Rupee slumps 13 paise against US dollar in early trade

 Mumbai: Rupee was down 13 paise at 66.78 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange today.

Dealers attributed the rupee's fall to increased demand for the US currency from importers and banks and a lower opening in domestic equity market.

However, the dollar's weakness against the euro and yen, restricted the fall.

On Friday, the rupee had closed almost flat at 66.65 a dollar as currency traders restrained form taking any major positions ahead of the weekend, despite positive sentiments emerging from US Fed meeting where rates were left unchanged.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell by 149.22 points or 0.52 per cent to 28,519.00 in early deals.